Comments on: Reference Question of the Week – 3/25/12

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:57:38 +0000

@Angie: I was going for a joke here, but really, I agree – cleaned up a little, I think this might be useful. Of course, I’d also be interested in the response from people, too.

@Alyssa: nice introduction to the library world – and if it makes you feel better (although I don’t imagine it would), librarians get propositioned too. And our reference desk does have a panic button.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:47:28 +0000

While I was in library school I worked at a small independent bookstore. A man came in and wondered if we sold “that” kind of material. He seemed pretty innocuous, as well as surprised and almost puzzled that he had ended up in a paperback shop with a lot of Westerns rather than his preferred destination. Reference help is for everyone, so I got the Yellow Pages, looked up the adult bookshop just down the street, and put the address and phone on a sticky note. He thanked me politely and made ready to leave, so the whole thing ended just perfectly . . . until he propositioned me, at which point I threw him out of the store and asked the owner to install a panic button, but up to that point it was really great, exactly how a “real” ref librarian would have handled it.

By: Angie

Angie — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:03:55 +0000

I’d hand that out.

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:50:32 +0000

@Sean: the handout is a joke from start to finish, which is the only reason why the Acre made the cut (although, when I asked staff here for applicable places, a few that live in Lowell did suggest it). Just like @Helen pointed out, a lingerie store certainly isn’t appropriate either. It was just a convenient local characterization, but I am sorry if it offended.

@Kim: interesting – now I’m curious if the other free wi-fi spots have filters. I’ve never hit one in a coffee shop or anywhere else before. Hmm.

@Mark: that part wasn’t a joke – that really is how we handle these situations. Most of the time, it ends right there (often, the person is so embarrassed that they leave immediately – that isn’t our goal, but it probably happens most of the time). For the patrons who weren’t looking at porn, which also happens, they sometimes are shocked or indignant and usually want to show me what they were looking at (Brittney Spears videos on YouTube or whatever). I never ask them to and never accuse them of anything, and after I explain the “a young child might see it” policy, they generally understand.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:15:20 +0000

Question – Do you really give first time offenders a copy of the policy with the referenced statement? It doesn’t sound too outrageous, and if you do, I’m wondering how patrons tend to respond…

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:45:28 +0000

Actually, Panera uses filters. I was trying to get to a website on my phone, and it wouldn’t open there, and a message/page came up (don’t remember which now), about non-approved sites. It wasn’t porn, it was strong language.

By: Sean Thibodeau

Sean Thibodeau — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:01:07 +0000

Ha Ha. April fools. Sad thing is your prank is perpetuating a false and damaging slander that I find objectionable and so would the decent citizens of Lowell’s Acre neighborhood (the Pollard Library and the Coalition for a Better Acre included). You’re better than this.

By: sharon

sharon — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:01:31 +0000

Actually had me going there for a minute, until I got to the “Local Informal Hotspots.” Otherwise… It’s not a bad idea at all. I have a similar response when confronted with requests for software or some function that the library didn’t offer on the public computers, and after a few of those, I’ll tell the customer-patron two things: websites for inexpensive computers, and the local Internet service providers.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:46:40 +0000

Damn – just looked at the date – it is now April 2nd in Australia and I had moved on from yesterday! Nice one

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:45:33 +0000

Interesting that you consider a lingerie shop to be in line with suggestions on adult reading material and prostitute meeting spots. Personally don’t think a person buying nice (and possibly suggestive) lingerie is in the same league with porn or which toilet block to meet a man in. And I would assume that McDonalds would have trouble with anyone accessing porn in their “family restaurants”. Interesting idea, not sure you have the answer right yet.